Educational Outreach Program

The Educational Outreach Program enhances students and teacher’s background on the local flora and fauna found within our coastal environments.  Our curriculum is based on an ocean-oriented approach to teaching science standards in accordance with the National Science Education Standards (NSES).  Teachers can explore our Lower Laguna Madre ecosystems and conduct field studies that can easily be adapted to a classroom setting.  Students can participate in activities that include a trip on a local vessel with an experienced naturalist/teacher for gathering water chemistry data and collecting marine organisms for subsequent classification and study in a laboratory setting.  Please call the CSL for further information.

Rio Grande Coastal Impact Monitoring Program

The Rio Grande Coastal Impact Monitoring Program (RGCIMP) seeks to document pollutant discharges from the Rio Grande and associated drains into the south Texas coastal waters, and to document the impacts of these pollutants.

The RGCIMP office is located at The University of Texas-Pan American Coastal Studies Laboratory and is facilitated and coordinated by the Texas General Land Office, Coastal Division, Austin Texas.

Phase 1 of the project resulted in the following deliverables:

• Water Related Resources of the Rio Grande Valley of Texas: An Annotated Bibliography.
• Literature Survey of the Lower Rio Grande and Associated Coastal Waters
• Toxic Contaminants Survey of the Lower Rio Grande, Lower Arroyo Colorado, and Associated Coastal Waters.
• Real-time Monitoring of Water Quality and Hydrodynamics at the Mouth of the Arroyo Colorado, Texas

Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network

The UTPA Coastal Studies Laboratory is the Port Isabel Regional Headquarters of the Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network. The Texas Marine Mammal Stranding Network, founded in 1980, is a nonprofit volunteer-based organization dedicated to the understanding and conservation of marine mammals. The Network rescues and rehabilitates marine mammals that strand along the Texas Coast, providing food, medical treatment and 24-hour-a-day observation. Network volunteers in six regions along the coast respond immediately when a stranding is reported.

Statewide Marine Mammal Stranding Emergency Telephone Number: CALL 1-800-9MAMMAL or 1-800-962-6625

The South Padre Island Region includes: Cameron County and Wilacy County south of Mansfield Pass.

TMMSN Regional Representatives and Local Stranding Reports

Sea Turtle Salvage and Stranding Network

The UTPA Coastal Studies Laboratory is the South Padre Island Headquarters for the Sea Turtle Salvage and Stranding Network. The Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network (STSSN) was formally established in 1980 to collect information on and document strandings of marine turtles along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts. The network encompasses the coastal areas of the eighteen state region from Maine through Texas, and includes portions of the U.S. Caribbean. Data are compiled through the efforts of network participants who document marine turtle strandings in their respective areas and contribute those data to the centralized STSSN data base.

To report stranded turtles, contact us with the information provided above.

Port Isabel/South Padre Island Fishing Information

These links provide current information about fishing information - please refresh the page each time.

South Padre Island Fishing Report and Port Mansfield Fishing Report from Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

NOAA Tide Tables South Padre Island 2007

Texas Parks and Wildlife Fishing Information

Texas Parks and Wildlife Weekly Fishing Reports